Texas Panhandle fires: Special committee to investigate cause, response

TEXAS - Fire swept through the Mendota Ranch in the Texas Panhandle a few weeks ago. Images from the burn zone are unforgettable, and all too familiar for rancher Jason Abraham. 

"It's like Groundhog Day. It's like every year we have the same problems. Like, we never make any headway with the Texas Forest Service," said Abraham. 

Abraham was appointed by House Speaker Dade Phelan to a special committee on the panhandle wildfires, which includes three state lawmakers. Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) and Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), who both represent parts of north Texas, and Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi), who chairs a grid oversight committee.

"This, to me, is the best opportunity we've ever had. I mean, the timing is right," said Abraham.  

A three-day hearing is scheduled, but it will not take place in a Capitol committee room. Testimony, which starts April 2, will be done in Pampa so more of those affected can attend. 

There are two big issues Abraham wants to talk about.

"Number one. Let's fix the utility companies, and then let's make the Texas Forest Service more efficient, more lean, mean operating machine that it can be and used to be," said Abraham.

Water drops from the air, according to Abraham, need better coordination between local and national assets. It’s an example of what Abraham describes as a bigger response and communication problem.

"So, it was like every year we got a new group of people rolling in. I don't know if the Forest Service just doesn't pay enough or what they do, but we've got new people every year and nobody writes it down, what we discussed and what was the solution, from year to year. Because we've had these discussions, and we've got the solutions," said Abraham. "Somebody drops the ball halfway through or like quit their job, and they're done."

A picture of a broken utility pole, provided to FOX 7 by Abraham, is an example of another big talking point for the hearings. It’s believed a downed power line sparked the Smokehouse Creek Fires, one of the larger Panhandle fires. 

Abraham says he will be asking utility companies some hard questions about maintenance programs.

"The utility companies have to be held accountable, not just the utility, but the utility by the mom and pop oil field, because we've got these old fuel companies that are all over, you know, our part of the world, and also your part of the world that are 1920 pump jacks, and they've got the same freaking, you know, power pole holding these cruddy little lines up," said Abraham. 

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There is the possibility no major reforms will happen after the hearings and when state lawmakers return to Austin in January. Political Lip Service is a concern for Abraham.

"I'm really worried about that. It's like anything else. Anytime you go to Austin or anything like that, it's going to be, you know, a lot of a lot of Whoop&Hall' and it goes away again," Abraham said. "But this, to me, I'm putting effort in on this because this is, we've done this every year, or seemed like every year, every big fire. We have the same discussion, we have the same deal. And how can we not, you know, how can we fix the problem?"

Abraham went on to say relief efforts that are coming in from other ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma have been great, but it will take years to recover, and more assistance will be needed. 

He believes utility companies linked to the fires should bare most of the recovery cost. As for state funding, he suggested money could be used to address the turnover problem at the forest service and funding to acquire more equipment, especially to speed up response times for water drops by air. 

The committee is to issue a report by May 1.